For Arjun Tendulkar, IPL debut is just the start of an arduous long haul

On the afternoon of April 16, before the start of the Mumbai Indians-Kolkata Knight Riders IPL matches at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, the Tendulkars had a moment that they will cherish for the rest of their lives.

As left-arm bowling all-rounder Arjun Tendulkar made his IPL debut for Mumbai, a side of which he has been a member since 2021, he and his father Sachin Tendulkar became the first father-son pair to have played in the competition.

Arjun bowled the first and third over in the match, conceding four and 13 runs to end with figures of 0/17 in two overs, impressing the onlookers with his ability to swing the ball into the right-handed batsmen.

But a sterner test awaited Arjun when Mumbai faced Sunrisers Hyderabad in an away fixture on Tuesday. Hyderabad was eight wickets down and needed 20 runs in the final over to successfully chase down 193, with the big-hitting Abdul Samad still at the crease.

There was pressure to deliver on Arjun, especially given the huge expectations owing to his illustrious surname.

Arjun stuck to the plan of delivering yorkers and giving little room to the batters to free their arms, and once Samad was run-out, the match was in Mumbai’s favour. Arjun ended the game by having Bhuvneshwar Kumar caught at the cover to scalp his first IPL wicket in his second game in the competition.

After the game ended, captain Rohit Sharma said the team had confidence in Arjun’s abilities to take them to victory.

“Arjun has been a part of this team for the last three years (though he didn’t make the playing XI). I have seen him grow over the years. He understands what he wants to do and he is quite confident about what he wants to do for the team as well.

“We saw in this lead-up to the IPL what he was doing; he was bowling fast, nailing those yorkers, and was quite clear in his plans as well. Keeping things easy – that’s what he is trying to do (for the team). He is trying to swing the new ball and bowl yorkers at the death.”

In his two showings in IPL 2023, Arjun has managed to impress many former players, with the legendary Sunil Gavaskar finding similarities between him and Sachin in terms of attitude towards the game.

“Everybody talks about the amazing talent Sachin Tendulkar had at the start of his career. But it was his temperament that was absolutely amazing, and Arjun seems to have inherited that. He seems to be a shrewd thinker as well. It’s always a good sign when a youngster is bowling the final over for the team and delivering,” Gavaskar was quoted as saying by Star Sports.

Arjun had earlier made headlines for his performances in the India U-19 team on a tour to Sri Lanka in 2018, and for switching to playing for Goa in domestic cricket, where he hit a century on first-class debut, just like how Sachin did on his Ranji debut in 1988.

Arjun, a left-handed lower-order batter, made 120 off 207 balls in his first innings for Goa against Rajasthan in last season’s Ranji Trophy.

He has also got the exposure to bowling to Indian and England teams as a net bowler.

There will be even more tough tests for Arjun, be it in the IPL or in domestic cricket and perhaps, who knows, even in international cricket. But for now, he has shown signs to excel and carry forward the ‘Tendulkar’ legacy.

Also Read: Top 5 Bowlers with most wickets in IPL History

-IANS

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